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All-Star

Fire forward Mike Magee is soaking in this week's MLS All-Star festivities in Kansas City and really why shouldn't he?

After 11 seasons in MLS, the league's joint-leading goal scorer is the longest tenured player on this year's All-Star roster to be making his first appearance in the mid-summer classic.

On Monday, Magic Mike joined fellow MLS All-Stars Will Johnson of Portland and Patrice Bernier of Montreal and host Nick Firchau on ExtraTime Radio to have a frank discussion about how they see the league in 2013, the dumbest questions they receive from reporters, Mike's sincere avoidance of Twitter and the honor of taking part in this year's game.

The #PickPat for #MLSAllStar campaign got a huge boost Thursday night as CSN Chicago’s Dave Kaplan joined the #PickPat caucus during his interview with Austin Berry on Chicago Tribune Live (WATCH HERE).

You might remember when we started the campaign Monday, I pointed to Kaplan’s endorsement of the White Sox #TakeJake campaign as a point of jealousy. Thanks to Dave Kaplan for coming through for us last night.

As a recap, I received confirmation Wednesday that All-Star Head Coach Ben Olsen did indeed read my open letter appealing for Patrick Nyarko to be named to the squad. We’re also hoping that former Fire forward and All-Star assistant coach Josh Wolff will put in a word with Ben for Pat before Sunday’s announcement.

On the Commissioner front, we haven’t heard whether or not he’s seen the letter but hoping this blog, our player’s and Dave Kaplan’s endorsement will force the issue.

Continue to do your part to make sure Patrick Nyarko is part of the #MLSAllStar squad by tweeting #PickPat to @TheSoccerDon and @DCUnited before the announcement at halftime of Sunday’s match between the New York Red Bulls and Seattle Sounders on ESPN!

Yesterday I wrote an open letter to MLS All-Star head coach Ben Olsen asking him to consider selecting Patrick Nyarko for the 2012 MLS All-Star Game. I was told this morning Ben had indeed read the letter which is the most I could hope for in the matter. Thanks for your consideration Ben!

Now into the third day of the #PickPat campaign, this morning I took the deep plunge in writing another open letter, this time to MLS Commissioner Don Garber to ask for his consideration of Patrick as one of the two "Commissioner's Picks" for this month's match vs. Chelsea FC.

Here's what I said...

Dear Commissioner Garber,

Though there’s no way you remember, I had the pleasure of meeting you at the Chicago Fire Season Kickoff Luncheon in 2011. Fire owner Andrew Hauptman graciously pulled me over and introduced me as “the man who knows all things about our club”. Surely he might have been exaggerating a bit but I do pride myself on my ability to name our Top 15 goal scorers by total, in reverse order, without skipping a beat.

It’s in that spirit that I come to you with a request: select Patrick Nyarko as one of your two “Commissioner’s picks” for this month’s MLS All-Star Game against Chelsea FC.

As Commissioner you’ve accomplished a lot -- modern day statisticians and soccer purists hold you in high regard for abolishing the hockey-style shootout while the businessmen and marketers of the league praise your name for the push of soccer-specific stadia and Designated Players.

Pat’s not a DP and he’s not even the biggest name in the Chicago Fire locker room so perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising for him to not be included in the team’s six nominees for this year’s MLS All-Star fan voting. Anyone that has watched the team and Pat’s play over the past three seasons will tell you he’s likely been the club’s most consistent performer, shredding defenses with his speed, ability on the ball and excellent work rate.

With that in mind, it was considered quite a coup for the club to re-sign Patrick earlier this year as he would have easily been a target of European sides once his contract expired at season’s end.

While I made the statistical and playing case to MLS All-Star head coach Ben Olsen Tuesday, today I point to Patrick’s dedication to the club and the league as a reason you should consider him for one of your Commissioner’s picks for the All-Star game.

The DP’s of the league will certainly help sell tickets, merchandise and TV rights but players of Pat’s ability and ethic are the ones the league has always built its back on. His story alone is a great one but his ability to come in and improve every day and be a positive force on and off the field is a great advertisement for our club as well as Major League Soccer.

In the past your choices for the All-Star game have sometimes been about making sure a certain name is present but you’ve also selected players deserving players that have been overlooked.

I can think of no one better that Patrick that falls in to the second category of recognition and ask you to strongly consider to #PickPat on Sunday for this year’s MLS All-Star Game.

The #PickPat for #MLSAllStar Campaign got off to a successful start on Monday with a lot of great tweets appealing to Ben Olsen and Don Garber to select Patrick Nyarko to the squad that will face Chelsea FC on Wednesday, July 25 in Philadelphia.

Our work isn't done though. Just minutes ago, I sent the below e-mail (on Fire letterhead) to MLS All-Star Head Coach Ben Olsen, drawing on the similarities between he and Patrick and asking for him to consider @PattyBerron as one of his selections for this month's All-Star game.

Dear Ben,

I’ve been an admirer of your career for your on-the-field contributions as well as your ability to come back. I say this as someone that didn’t enjoy seeing your name on the team sheet against the Men in Red.

In the early days of your career, there were few others in MLS that combined the speed and attacking ability and most importantly work ethic that you provided with D.C. United.

After experiencing a pretty devastating injury in 2001, you fought back, moved into a new position and made your way on to a U.S. World Cup team in 2006, one you would have been on four years earlier if not for said injury.

Meet Patrick Nyarko.

I say that in jest because I know you already know him. As part of the MLS head coach’s fraternity, you certainly include him in your pre-game team talk prior to a match against the Fire. Just a guess, but you might mention that he’s a player that reminds you of well, you.

Pat left his family in Ghana to join Virginia Tech (don’t let your Cavalier side hold that against him) and went on to become one of the most coveted players in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. Much like you spent your first year in D.C. living with Bruce Arena, Pat counts one of his former Hokie teammates’ families as his “American family”.

Similarly, Pat moved away from his normal position as a forward to play as a winger early on in his professional career. This move wasn’t forced by injury but was one to make the player more effective for the team. Over the past three seasons, Pat has used his speed, ability to change directions and skill on the ball to terrorize MLS defenses.

While you suffered from ankle and other issues, Pat has dealt with concussions. Despite suffering at least two during his time with the Fire, he’s continued to improve every match and played fearlessly while knowing the risk of another is there.

Like you, Patrick hasn’t scored a ton of goals so far but ironically, he’s just ahead of your five-year assist mark at this point in his career (23 to 24).

Many in Chicago (not that you care what anyone here thinks) found it surprising that Patrick wasn’t included among the team’s six players nominated for the MLS All-Star Game considering the consensus says he’s been the team’s most consistent performer this season.

I say all this in an appeal to you to name Patrick as one of your selections to the 2012 MLS All-Star Game in Philadelphia later this month. Knowing the character you’ve always shown, I know you won’t let that MLS Cup ’98 defeat sour your view of Patrick. It would have capped a nice rookie year for you but Patrick was only 13 then.

Maybe a start isn’t in the cards, but can you think of many other players in the league you would want coming off the bench in a game like this? When a Chelsea team in preseason form begins to whither in the Pennsylvania heat?

Keep up the #PickPat campaign by tweeting your support for Patrick to @DCUnited and @TheSoccerDon. The remaining selections for the 2012 MLS All-Star game will be announced at halftime of Sunday's Seattle vs. New York match at 3pm CT on ESPN.

Full disclosure here: I saw the Twitter campaign the Chicago White Sox did to get Jake Peavy onto the American League All-Star team for tomorrow’s game. #TakeJake made its way into the Fourth of July Parade and with Dave Kaplan on Chicago Tribune Live and I have to admit, I became a little envious.

Though it didn’t exactly work (Peavy finished second in MLB Twitter voting to the Texas Rangers Yu Darvish), the Sox right-hander has reportedly replaced injured L.A. Angels southpaw C.J. Wilson on the All-Star team.

THE INVERTED WINGER: Patrick Nyarko

Last month Fire supporters did an amazing job in registering Twitter votes for the team’s six nominated MLS All-Stars. In a contest with Columbus, the Fire Twitter family quite frankly sent Crew fans back to the cow pasture from whence they came, outvoting them by a 3-1 margin. Though all the while, the victory seemed bittersweet as seemingly one of the team’s most deserving candidates wasn’t included.

You see the journalists of North American soccer (who decided every team’s six All-Star nominees) fight the good fight, though like any other sport, they seem to recognize name a bit more than form or other contributions.

Cut to Patrick Nyarko, who over the past three seasons has become one of Major League Soccer’s most underrated players. Even when the side’s on-the-field play hasn’t been sub-par, the Ghanaian winger, forward (let’s just call him attacker?) has always provided danger and shown a constant threat in stretching and exposing the opposition’s defense.

A goal scorer he is not… Nyarko has only hit the back of the net nine times in his MLS career but he has found his role as a set up man providing 22 of his 24 league assists in the past three seasons. On top of that, Nyarko finished in the Top 5 in the league in Big Chances Created (7) and Chances from the run of play (56) in 2011 and is currently tied with Javier Morales for Big Chances (7) and behind only Landon Donovan in Chances Created from the Run of Play (30 to 36).

While speed is one of his best attributes, the most impressive quality that he’s gained over the past 12 months has been his ability to navigate through defenses, maintaining possession of the ball almost as if it never leaves his foot.

Those qualities combined with the fact that Nyarko is fouled a lot (he’s been Top 10 in fouls suffered each of the past two seasons) and still finds a way to get back up is impressive and draws a lot of comparisons to former Fire winger DaMarcus Beasley. Moreover, he currently sits behind only countryman Dominic Oduro for consecutive league appearances at 41.

The Ghanaian national team recognized Nyarko’s effort earlier this year when he received his first call-up for the Black Stars in a 1-1 friendly draw with Chile back in February. Coming on as a second-half sub in that match, by all accounts Ghana could have easily won if only they’d found a way to finish one of the many chances created by Nyarko.

So while there is no Twitter vote left for the #MLSAllStar’s game vs. Chelsea, there is a chance to make an appeal to the two men who will decide the remaining players to fill out the league squad.

Over the next few days I’ll post my open letters to MLS All-Star Head Coach Ben Olsen and League Commissioner Don Garber, laying out the case for a player that has often been overlooked but is deserving of such an honor this season.

On Tuesday we began encouraging Fire fans to use the hashtag #VoteFIRE in tweets to spread awareness for the Twitter MLS All-Star vote that begins Thursday as well as have a little friendly competition with our rival and Saturday's opponent Columbus.

As of our last tally, there have been over 1,100 tweets mentioning #VoteFIRE in the past 24 hours. Before kickoff Saturday, we will calculate the results between the two teams to determine a winner.

We certainly wish to thank the fans for their support, but the election season has just begun. Tomorrow will mark a shift in our campaign focus as we push you to the Twitter polls to vote Pappa, Pardo, Oduro, Johnson, Segares and Grazzini.

To make it easier, we wanted to make sure everyone knew how a Twitter vote was counted.

#VoteFIRE kicks off

This week, we're encouraging fans to use the hashtag #VoteFIRE to help spread the word and get out and vote for the Men in Red for MLS All-Star on July 25th. On Saturday, June 23rd, we will calculate the results between the two teams to see who's the winner. Here are the best tweets from yesterday..

Fire fans get ready to beat the Crew not only on the pitch this weekend but via Twitter!

This week, we're encouraging fans to use the hashtag #VoteFIREto help spread the word and get out and vote for the Men in Red for MLS All-Star on July 25th in Philadelphia. The Columbus Crew will be using the hashtag #VoteCREW during the same time and just before kickoff on Saturday, June 23rd we will calculate the results between the two teams to see who's the winner.

FACT: Brian McBride likes Chicago better.

FACT: Yellow is a cowardly color.

FACT: Chris Rolfe and Austin Berry hated Ohio so much they had to leave.

Vote for Fire #MLSAllStar nominees Marco PAPPA, Pavel PARDO, Dominic ODURO, Sean JOHNSON, Gonzalo SEGARES and Sebastian GRAZZINI by logging onto MLSsoccer.com/AllStar or text the player’s last name only to 22442. Twitter voting begins this Thursday, June 21 at 11am CT and runs through Friday, June 22 at 11:00pm CT.

FINE PRINT: The tweet doesn't actually count as a vote, but the hope is that other fans will be encouraged to participate, vote and help us beat the Yellow Team.